Viva La Bat King
by Bubblxgum Bitch
Summary: After Antasma's defeat, everyone thought he was defeated, but they couldn't be more wrong. The bat king ends up befriending and trusting his rescuer, an adventurous and prideful girl, and through her, finds a second chance. (There are spoilers for Dream Team; read with caution)
1. Introduction

"_Antasma?_"

He could feel another's presence as his consciousness slipped away from him. The last fragments of him were fading away, forever to be lost in space.

"_Antasma, wake up!_"

Their voice was so far away; it was like a dream. He internally chuckled. This world was a dream. It was so cold; his body was going numb, not that it really mattered. He was never going to feel anything ever again.

Or so he thought.

Something, or someone, had pulled him into their arms. He felt something being wrapped around him. Antasma didn't bother squirming; he was too drained. He could see the faint outline of two wings spreading out…

…and then, it was dark.

* * *

Antasma had finally been defeated. The Pi'illo Kingdom was safe, and yet Prince Dreambert couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right within the kingdom. He had a feeling that something hadn't gone right during the battle, and that Antasma was still alive, somewhere and somehow. That, and the fact he felt the most uncanny presence…

"Prince Dreambert? Is something wrong?" Peach approached the ruler, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know…" he answered. "I feel like something's wrong. When we were finishing off Antasma…I don't think he's truly gone."

"I'm sure even if he survived, he's never going to come back. You'd defeat him, again." She smiled kindly at him. He gave her a small smile in return, going to look in the distance again.

"Probably," he replied. "And, the Dream Stone and the Nightmare Stone are destroyed. He wouldn't be able to use either of them."

"Oh, and I heard something odd from Kamek; he mentioned something about people going missing. What did he mean?"

"People going missing?" he echoed, confused. "I haven't heard of anyone going missing, really. Maybe he was talking about some of their minions."

"He most likely was," she agreed. "In any case, hopefully Bowser won't be bothering us for a while after being defeated again."

Dreambert stopped for a moment, thinking back to what Peach had said about Kamek.

"I think I know what Kamek was talking about, though I'm surprised he doesn't know."

"What?"

"Ryuna, the princess of the neighboring kingdom, actually disappears at times, but not for very long; she doesn't come back for two days normally, three at most. She probaly was just out that day, and she had been gone longer than usual." Dreambert shrugged.

"I always knew her to be adventurous, but I didn't think she actually disappeared," Peach hummed.

"The first couple of times she did that, back when she was nine, she worried her mother and the guards to death. After a while, though, if Ryu wasn't in the castle, they assumed she had gone out." Dreambert chuckled. "Sometimes, she crossed the borders to come here. I feel as if her visits aren't as often anymore, though…"

He frowned and then sighed; he missed Ryuna coming to visit. She rarely ever came. The prince was lucky if she even came to town. She was barely seen by anyone, anymore. Even her mother wondered where she went half of the time.

"I'm sure she'll visit, soon." Peach put a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, knowing Ryuna…she's probably got her sights set on something, something she wants to find."

"And when she wants to do something, she doesn't give up," he finished. "Thank you, princess."

"It was no problem, Prince Dreambert. We hope to see you again, soon." She smiled brightly; despite everything that had happened, this had been a great trip for her, Mario, and Luigi.

"I hope to, as well," he replied. They walked back outside together, so Peach wouldn't miss her flight back home.

* * *

_Authoress' Notes:_

_Do you guys know how much I hate writing these 600-word chapters? I know, intros are normally short, but not usually this short! *Scoff*_

_Anyways, it's here! IT'S FINALLY HERE! That project I had been working on on my tumblr is finally here! Good lord, this was difficult to write, because if I added too much information, I'd give away the plot, but if I didn't add enough, the plot wouldn't make any sense. _

_This is a kind of an AU where Antasma survives due to someone coming to save him, and that person…well, I won't spoil it~_

_I'm going to be drawing a cover for this story, so that'll be out soon. Also..._

_HOENN CONFIRMED! PARODY WILL BE UP ON MY YOUTUBE SOON!_


	2. Maga the Travelling Dragoni

_Woo, look at me, replying to reviews and stuff! Before we go on, and I always forget this..._

_I don't own any characters but my OC(s). **THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN DREAM TEAM SPOILERS. READ WITH CAUTION.**_

_Okay, so to Fluffy Bat: I'm not going to spill if there will be Cacktasma or not, but I will say that one of the OCs appearing in this story will be kind of the "Villain-Rescue Posse" leader, and Cackletta will be among those villains (there are three)._

_To Countess Bleck: Glad you enjoy it!_

__Also, I will be doing a special "Question of the Chapter" from now on, and this chapter's question is: **What is your favorite soundtrack(s) from Mario and Luigi: Dream Team? ****  
**__

__Mine happen to be Sacred Somnom Woods, Stand and Fight, Luigi!, and Adventures End. Trivia: Yoko Shimomura, the composer for the Kingdom Hearts series, actually does the soundtrack for the Mario and Luigi series!__

_Alright, onto more short chapters and stuff._

_...I say stuff to much._

* * *

Antasma woke up to a headache. He grunted as he got up, opening his eyes. He looked at himself; he was in his bat form, and all he saw in front of him was black. Was this a dream? The last thing he remembered was a voice. His head hurt too much to truly change forms. A small wave of confusion, and a little bit of sadness, came over him. Shouldn't he have been dead?

He had been so close…so close to freedom, and then Bowser had to betray him. Anger filled his thoughts, before he sighed and let them go. There was no use in getting revenge; they were all probably long-gone, now.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright."

He turned to the side to see a fair-skinned girl with black hair and soft, brown eyes. Her hair was tied into a pony tail. She was wearing a white, off-the-shoulder sleeveless top with a loose, dark blue skirt and brown shoes. A brown cloth was around her waist, folded up. There was a green, diamond-shaped pin in the middle of her shirt.

"Antasma? Are you okay?" she asked, tilting her head, a look of concern crossing over her face.

"I'm fine; I'm only vondering vho you are and how you know me," he replied, now looking her in the eye.

"Oh, I guess I should explain that, shouldn't I?" The girl tapped her fingers in an embarrassed manner, having gotten ahead of herself. "My name's Maga. As for how I know you, you've kind of bought attention to yourself ever since you came back."

"Haff I, now?" Antasma was actually a little less enthusiastic to hear that. "Vell, then. And vhat about you? Vhy are you here?"

"Well…let's just say I wanted to meet you, and…" Her mouth twisted down into a small frown, her eyes looking downwards. "…I kind of found you barely conscious."

"Barely conscious?" he repeated. "Vhat do you mean by that?"

"I had been bought to a giant castle by two koopas who were going to take me as a prisoner. I escaped, looking for a way out. That's when I overheard someone saying that Mario and Prince Dreambert had gone to stop you," she explained. "As I said before, my main goal was to find you, so I ran towards where I feel your energy. I saw that they had defeated you already, and I feared I was too late. I entered the Dream World…and I found you, floating around in your bat form."

"I vas…dead, then?"

"Almost. You were slowly fading from existence." She gave a small shiver. "You didn't wake up for days, almost a week. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been there in time."

Antasma did too, but he wouldn't voice that.

"I should get us out of here, now." She turned around. Focusing on one spot, she opened a rift, going to walk through. Antasma was surprised at the fact she was able to do that.

"What?" She turned back to him, seeing his surprised look.

"How vere you able to do that?" He pointed to the rift she made.

"Oh, that? Basic magic," she answered. "I've studied how the dream world works, and how to get in and out of it. It seems complicated but honestly, it's not that hard."

Without another word, she walked through; he quickly flew after her. Once the portal closed, he looked around them. They were in a field, the sun just beginning to set. A powerful gust of wind came by. Maga turned to him, smiling, and said;

"Time for me to fly; the wind is perfect, today!"

"Vhere are you going?" he asked.

"Wherever the wind will take me," she replied.

"You don't haff anyvhere to stay?"

"Not really; I'm a traveler, so I stay wherever I can." Maga shrugged. "It's not always easy, but I'm not complaining."

"Vhere are you travelling too?" Antasma questioned.

"Oh, nowhere, really," she chuckled. "I'm just looking for some adventure." Maga summoned two dragon wings behind her; they were about the same width as her arms, give or take an inch, and they were a dark purple. "I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"Vait a moment, Maga," he started, stopping her from flying off. "Vould you mind travelling vith me? I haff no clue vhere ve are, and you seem to know this place vell."

"Really?" This caught her off-guard. "You want me to come with you?"

"Vhy not? You did, after all, go out of your vay to find me." He raised an eyebrow. "So? Vhat do you say? Just until ve're back in the Pi'illo Kingdom."

Maga stayed silent for a moment, thinking on his offer. After a minute, she held her hand out to him, clasping it with his outstretched wing.

"Eh, I've got nowhere else to be, so why not?" She turned towards the setting sun, smiling. "Besides, I think we could be one dynamic duo!"

Antasma scoffed to himself; she was excitable. He took off into the air with her, watching her land on a cloud. The cloud didn't break from beneath her weight; it was like she was as light as a feather.

"How are you able to do that?" he asked.

"Oh, I forgot to explain. I'm a Dragoni; I'm able to turn into a dragon as I please; that allows me to sit on clouds without falling if my wings are summoned." She took off from the cloud again, staring up as the first stars of the night appeared.

"Oh, I love flying in the night!" she remarked in a relaxed, but excited voice. "The ground is nice, but being close to the sky is better. Especially when it's clear out and you can see the moon and stars."

"Isn't it hard to see?" Antasma asked. He was a bat, so he could see just fine in the darkness, but he didn't know about Maga.

"Don't worry; I can see just fine," she replied, looping over and sighing in bliss at the peacefulness of the night.

Antasma watched her turn upside down. While her back was turned, he put on a slight frown. What was this girl's motive through helping him? Did she even _have _a motive? She didn't seem to have something against him, but it could have been a very convincing act, as well. Just like what Bowser did.

He couldn't complain, though; she had agreed to lead him back to the Pi'illo Kingdom, and that was enough for him; if anything happened, he could just leave her.

"Antasma? Are you alright? You kind of spaced out, there." Maga was suddenly upside down in front of his face, blinking. He jumped back.

"SKREEK!" he screeched, causing her to flutter back a little bit. "Vould you mind _not _doing that!?"

"Aw, what? Did I scare you?" She now had a teasing tone, giggling.

"Shut up," he muttered, flying alongside as her as she continued to laugh.

* * *

_Ick, more short chapters._

_In any case, on to explaining what a Dragoni is. Dragoni is a race in the Mario world that I made up, in which they have three forms; a regular human form, a half-dragon form, and a full dragon form. The human and the half-dragon are the ones Maga here displayed._

_Now, this story is also following my own headcanons and theories with Antasma, and I won't be really putting his screeching tic, as it is tedious to type and looks sloppy. I'll only put it when he's surprised by something or someone, and maybe for a couple of laughs._

_I'd like this story to begin having a regular schedule, that being updated every Friday and every Saturday, though I don't know how that will work...What do you guys think?_


	3. Tall Tree Town

Antasma and Maga just wandered into a forest, following a river she seemed to know well. Though they had been traveling for a while, they barely knew much about one another, and Antasma still hadn't gained back enough strength to transform into his true form. At least it wasn't the first two days he had been travelling with her; she had to carry him for the most part.

"This river leads towards a town. Don't worry about being recognized; I have a plan."

"I fear vhat you haff in mind…" Seeing as he had only known her for a couple of days, it was to be expected that he feared anything she thought up of.

"Ah, don't worry," she scoffed, but stopped, eyes lighting up when she saw something shine by the river bank. "Nature stones!"

"Nature stones…?" Antasma repeated as he followed her towards the edge. She had gotten to her knees, looking for the stone she saw. Reaching her hand into the water, she pulled out a glistening blue stone, almost as blue as the water itself. The inside looked like it had a bunch of bubbles floating about.

"Oh, it's a rare one, too!" she said, putting in her bag. "Nature stones are formed by the elements around, and there are many types; I actually like to collect them. River stones are hard to come across. I'm lucky I even found this one."

"I see," he mused, interested. She got back up, looking in the direction they had been going for the past day.

"We're not close enough, yet; I'd give it another two hours."

"So, vould you mind explaining to me vhere exactly ve are?" Antasma asked.

"See, we're in the Dragoni Kingdom, ruled by King Denryu, Queen Hydrana, and their daughter, Princess Ryuna," she explained. "Princess Ryuna often likes to go out aventuring, sometimes going to the marketplace, other times going outside into the other towns and everything. She always comes home, though, so no one really worries too much about her."

"She goes out vithout telling anyone?"

"Yup! She's kind of the carefree-type. But enough on the royal family. The Dragoni Kingdom is a large place. The area we're in now is known as Tall Tree Woods, named for the tall trees around here. And the town is…well, it's Tall Tree Town." She chuckled. "Not really a creative name, is it? Well, in that sense, I guess most town names take after the area they're near…"

"How far are ve from thee Pi'illo Kingdom?" Antasma really didn't know what else to say besides ask her questions.

"Not as far as you'd think; from Tall Tree Town, we're about a three-day journey to the border between the two kingdoms. Well, three days on foot, at least. Flying makes the journey two days and a half if you're at a normal pace. The border itself is an ocean, so I'd have to fly you over, making it another half of a day." She stopped, thinking for a moment. "Actually, where will you go when you get back to the Pi'illo Kingdom? Seeing as everyone knows you…well, almost everyone knows you…"

Antasma was about to answer when he stopped. Where _would _he go? As far as he knew, his castle had been destroyed, and if he suddenly appeared again, he'd be attacked with no warning. He didn't know about the Dragoni, either; Maga, so far, seemed to be friendly enough to lead him back, but she was only one person. The kingdom's rulers and inhabitants may not appreciate him being there as much as she did, and even then, she could have just been being merciful.

"I…didn't really think about that," he answered honestly. She frowned, thinking for a moment before shrugging.

"Oh well; I guess we'll just have to wait until we get there." She searched for a topic to go on about, before saying; "I never did explain to you what Dragoni exactly are, did I?" He shook his head. "Well, as I explained, we can turn into dragons, and we have three forms; a regular form, a half form—both of which you've seen—and a full form. We have the basic properties of dragons; scales, wings, wingless, serpents, and we can breath fire, but that where it ends; the type of dragon can vary greatly."

"Vhat do you mean by type?"

"Well, there are multiple types of dragons; water, nature, fire, thunder, and ice, to name the basic five. Then, you have four others; night, wind, weather, and light. Those four are a little more uncommon than the others, but not the point where it's difficult to find a Dragoni of that type."

"Vhich vun are you?"

"I'm a night dragon; we have the power to create constellations and light them up with our fire." A screech interupted her. She looked up, and saw a group of Dragoni flying overhead. They were changing the patterns of the clouds, bunching them together and darkening the clouds.

"Those are weather dragons up there," she explained. "They can change the pattern of the clouds and the weather itself. Sometimes, they enlist the help of ice dragons when it comes to the winter. Speaking of weather, from the looks of it, we may want to hurry; that looks like a rain pattern to me."

Maga transformed herself, but it wasn't just summoning her wings. Instead, she took on another form. Antasma now found himself looking at a dark purple dragoness with a darker stripe running down from her head to her tail tip. Her front legs had two bands and she had a strike over her left eye, both in the same color as the stripe. Her tail end had a purple fan-like pattern to it. Maga lowered her head down.

"Climb on; I'm faster in this form than I am in my half form." He nestled himself on her head as she lifted it back up. With one leap, she was in the sky, her wings flapping every now and then as they glided through. She was flying a little bit below the clouds, greeting the weather dragons as they flew.

"Don't worry about this storm," one of them called. "It won't start until late tonight."

"We'll be somewhere dry by then," Maga answered. Antasma was thankful that he blended in well with her scale coloring; they didn't notice him.

"Stay safe, now!" The Dragoni waved, screeching a goodbye to her. Antasma looked around him as they flew. He understood what she meant when she said she was faster in this form. While it felt slow, if he tried to fly beside her, he'd quickly lose her.

"Remind me to fly you over the kingdom one of these days," she hummed, scanning the ground below them. So far, she enjoyed Antasma's company. He wasn't much different than some of the other companions she had met, but he certainly had more of a story to tell to her. She was almost sad she'd have to leave him when they got the border.

Then again, it may have been for the better that they parted ways at the border; less of a problem to them, and besides, she wanted to stay close to home.

* * *

They had been flying for about two hours before Maga had finally landed, just outside of a town entrance. Lowering her head and allowing Antasma to get off, she changed back to her normal form, brushing her skirt off. She turned to Antasma, focusing her magic onto him.

"Hold still for a moment…" Maga encased Antasma in a sphere of purple, altering his appearance. Sometimes, she added things, and other times she took away things. Once she was finished, she smiled and made a swirl in mid-air, having it take the form of a mirror.

"Take a look."

Antasma did as told, and was surprised at who he saw looking back at him. He now looked similar to her in terms of height, but was paler in complexion and had amber-colored eyes. He was wearing a brown cloak over a regular pair of black pants and a black and purple button-up shirt. His hair was purple, falling in a mess over his face.

"See? What did I tell you?" She put her hands on her hips, proud of her work. "I'm a master at creating disguises."

"I guess it's not that bad…" he hesitantly agreed.

Now, Maga used the spell on herself, though she was altered only slightly, making her hair brown and eyes blue. She stopped for a moment, thinking.

"Short or mid-length?" she asked Antasma, looking into the mirror she had formed.

"Short." She altered her hair's length. He almost didn't recognize her with short hair; he was accustomed to seeing her with long, black hair.

"Ready?" she asked. He nodded in reply, walking after her.

The town itself didn't look much different from a standard one, just bigger with more shops and houses. People all over were talking, and Antasma couldn't help but feel a twinge of uncertainty at being recognized as some stares fell on him. Maga didn't seem affected, walking through with a happy, unfazed aura.

Once they had gotten through the bulk of the crowd, Maga began explaining to him the different places around, pointing out the things she liked. Suddenly, the two of them stopped when they spotted two seven-year old kids running by.

"I bet I'll be the best at _my _Flight Ceremony!" the girl boasted.

"No way! I'll be the best!" the boy with her retorted.

Maga chuckled, watching them run off.

"Vhat vere they talking about?" Antasma asked.

"Oh, they were talking about their first Flight Ceremony," she replied. "Every Dragoni has at least two ceremonies; one when they're seven or eight, formally known as a First Flight Ceremony, and another when they've mastered their abilities. The second one is usually when you're eighteen or nineteen, sometimes when you're twenty. Though, some people have their second ceremony for other reasons that can vary greatly; sometimes a Dragoni won't have a second ceremony at all. I myself haven't had my second ceremony yet."

"Vhen vould yours haff been?"

"Hmm…when I turn twenty, most likely. I'm eighteen, now. I'd rather wait until my skill has been mastered properly." She turned her head, spotting an Inn a little ways from where they were. But that's not what she was focusing on.

"Antasma, over there." She pointed out a message board to him, to one poster in particular. "She looks…familiar."

"That'd be the beanish witch herself, Cackletta." She turned around to see an older dragoni man. "She's been seen around the kingdom for two weeks, but no one's found her. She's there one moment, and gone the next. The princess disappeared again, probably off to find her."

"What would she do with her?" Maga asked, curious.

"Princess Ryuna isn't the kind to attack on sight until she knows she's in danger, but knowing there's a previous villain within her kingdom…she may just warn her not to cause trouble. But who knows; she's amazed us before." The man shrugged. He walked off after that, leaving Maga to her thoughts.

"Maybe we should try to find her," she said, turning to Antasma.

"But…didn't he say the princess already vent to find her?"

"So? Where's your sense of adventure, Antasma? Maybe Princess Ryuna hasn't found her, yet. We could help her out. Of course, I'll still keep my word and lead you to the border, and whatever happens to Cackletta is up to us."

Antasma guessed that Maga was right in trying to look for her themselves; they could help her, and she was still keeping her word to lead him to the border. He wasn't in any position to turn down her idea, anyways.

"It's a deal, then."

* * *

_I'm sorry this took so long. I've been busy here of late, and I hit a writer's block, so things are going to be slow._

_Hopefully you all liked this chapter, and you like the way I've characterized everyone. Until next chapter! _


End file.
